No Bond Ordered For Drug Suspects

March 13, 1985|By Jon Peck, Staff Writer

Eight Colombians charged with smuggling 15 tons of marijuana were ordered held without bond Tuesday, despite their statement that pirates commandeered their ship and were responsible for the illegal haul.

The eight, none of whom spoke English, were arrested last Wednesday after their vessel sank in the Atlantic Ocean 60 miles west of Fort Pierce.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents said the Colombian crew members scuttled the Gaviota, sending it to the ocean floor. Coast Guard officers said they spotted about 30,000 pounds of marijuana on the ship, but recovered only one bale before the ship sank.

During the West Palm Beach hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Atkinson said the men would be prosecuted for the 15 tons. If convicted, they face up to five years in federal prison on the marijuana possession charge.

After questioning the Colombians through an interpreter, even their federal public defender told Magistrate Ann Vitunac he could not argue for low bond. The men said they had no family or property in South Florida, standards used by authorities to determine if defendants are a risk to flee the area.

According to a sworn affidavit by DEA agent Carter Osleber, the Coast Guard boarded the Gaviota after guardsmen saw the vessel`s crew ``rushing about the vessel in what later proved to be a scuttling operation.``

Guardsmen said they found 15 tons of marijuana aboard the ship, which was taking on about 300 gallons of water a minute. One bale was confiscated and the Colombian crew taken into custody before the vessel sank, Osleber said.

Gaviota Capt. Jorge Humberto Alvardo-Alfate told authorities thathe and his crew had nothing to do with the marijuana, Osleber said. He said the ship was pirated by four unknown men armed with machine guns, who took over the ship three weeks earlier and locked the crew in a compartment.

The captain said the pirates fled his ship shortly before it was intercepted by the Coast Guard cutter, agent Osleber said.